Casein is a by-product of the dairy industry and is usually prepared from skim milk by acid precipitation (acid casein) or by enzyme coagulation with rennin (rennet casein). Rennet casein is preferred to acid casein for many food uses due to its better flavor and flavor retention characteristics and has been used to make cheese analogs. Baker's cheese (a low-fat coagulated skim milk curd, similar to cottage cheese) has also been used in making cheese analogs. However, these products have not been used together to make a no-fat cheese analog.
Prior art patents, such as Middleton U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,822,623, Galal et al. 4,397,926 and Bixby et al., 4,444,800, have shown how to make cheese analogs from dry rennet casein but these analogs all contain about 20% fat or edible oil and cannot be considered no-fat cheese analogs.
Several patents do disclose a no-fat cheese analog. Crane U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,024 uses cottage cheese to make a no-fat cream cheese. Zeller U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,196 uses about 50% baker's cheese and 3% caseinate (Example 1) to make a no-fat dairy product with a cheese flavor. Swanson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,817 has the option of controlling the type and amount of fat addition in making a cheese analog from casein and liquid whey.
Many patents disclose how to make low-fat cheese analogs containing up to 3% fat. Representative of these are U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,983, to Czulak et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,143, Kneubuehl et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,174, Wirchansky, U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,584 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,913 to Gamay. These patents all use a coagulated skim milk. and Wirchansky disclose using baker's cheese for making the analog.
Various patents, such as Swanson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,313 and Melachouris et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,069 make a cheese analog which has no fat but is then combined with a natural cheese containing fat.
Accordingly, it is a principle object of the present invention to provide a no-fat cheese analog having the texture, body and eating qualities of cheese.
It is another object to provide a method for making a cheese analog which has substantially no fat and which is adapted to large scale commercial production.
Still another object is to provide a no-fat cheese analog which need not be combined with natural cheese to be consumed.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following summary and detailed description.